Responsibility
by Salmon
Summary: I was disappointed in the only confrontation between Zack and Byron so I wrote this...


I don't hate Byron...okay, maybe a little. But mainly I just thought the only confrontation between him and Zack was lame. SO...I wrote this. Enjoy!  
  
Salmon  
  
  
Responsibility: A Bab 5 fanfic  
  
  
Zack kept his mind purposefully empty as he entered the telepath's quarters. The telepaths who were in the room hurried as far from him as possible. 'Nice.' He couldn't help but think.  
"What do you want?" Byron entered.  
'Always a pleasure dealing with you, too.' He didn't bother to hide his sarcastic thought. "Datacrystal. Job." He tossed it, and Byron caught it. 'I don't know what's on it, so don't bother asking.' He added mentally.  
"I wouldn't ask you for the time of day." Byron assured him.  
'I wouldn't give it, even if you did.' Zack didn't say it aloud, he just thought it.  
"Because we're telepaths, perhaps."  
'You're an idiot.' Zack watched everyone stiffen, and knew the thought had been heard. With a mental shrug he pressed on. "Prejudice is a two-way street. Any prejudice thoughts in this room at the moment come from you and your people, not from me."  
"My people didn't hunt down yours like animals." Byron reminded him.  
"I don't like witch-hunts. But I couldn't consciously disobey those orders."  
"Consciously?" Byron repeated bewilderedly.  
"Yes, consciously! Because if you sat and thought for a minute you'd realize the other option would have been to allow Bester and his hounds free run of the station. Now, I may not think much of you or your people, but trust me, it's alot more than I think of Bester, or anyone who follows him! So, yes. it was far more conscientious to have my men capture you're people for all parties involved." Zack didn't bother to collect his thoughts, he just kept speaking. "I told my men to be as gentle as the situation allowed. Which is more than Bester's men afforded you, and more than they were given in return. And I know my men obeyed the order, because my men do as they are told." 'Unlike yours.' He clenched his jaw on the last words, but they escaped his mind anyway.  
Byron stiffened, and several of the gathered people gasped. "That's not fair." One began.  
"I didn't say that aloud. You shouldn't listen in if you can't take what you hear."   
"You don't know what we have lived through." Byron told him.  
"Nor do you know what I've lived through."  
For the briefest of moments they got a flash from Zack's mind. Darkness, pain...a horrofied realization that he couldn't survive without help, and a desperate need to live. Then his mind clamped shut fiercely.  
"I think you're afraid of our telepathy." Byron snapped at Zack, ignoring the curiousity he felt over what he'd caught a glimpse of.  
"What I'm afraid of, Mr Byron, is your mindset. The belief that having an ability gives you a god-given right to use it however and whenever you want. It's a terrifying thought. The universe would be a chaotic and horrofying place indeed if everyone shared that thought process. You take no responsibility for your abilities and your teaching others to believe and act the same. That is what scares me." He watched Byron glared at him, and shook his head. "Don't flatter yourself, Mr Byron. I don't hate you. I don't like you, and I definately don't respect you. But it will be a long time before I can honestly say I hate you...You'll have to do alot more, of if it's possible alot less. The closest I came to giving you any respect was when you refused to work with Garibaldi. But you changed your mind when taking action over what you overheard became inconveniant. Now you can just take it to someone else. No responsiblity at all. Works for you, doesn't it?" Zack turned away in disgust.  
"What do you take me for?" Byron demanded, grabbing his arm.  
Zack whirled back, slamming his hand off his arm angrily. "What's the matter? I thought you and you people were god's gift to the universe. Don't tell me you're affected by the opinions of some lowly normal. Or are you not as confident as you seem? Do you really want to know my opinion? Then why aren't your reading my mind? Why don't you just take it?"   
"I'm not Bester..." Byron stepped back. "I don't take what isn't on the surface. You're keeping your mind purposefully blank. Pretty good, for a non-telepath. But don't take that for respect."  
"...I think you're a coward." Zack confessed. The group which had gathered during the confrontation glared. Zack ignored them. "You're willing to die for your cause. To be a martyr. But most of the time, martyr is just another word for coward. You don't have the strength or courage to finish what you've started. You've lost control, and rather than try to get it back you just want to lay down and die. Leave your mess for someone else to clean up. I knew it the first minute I saw you and your people. We had the underground telepathic railroad run through here for over a year without incident. So, at first I passed it off as paranoia. You don't get to be head of security without being a little paranoid. But after a while I couldn't pass it off anymore...You're just going to sacrifice yourself and leave your mess here. For my people to clean up! And dozens of people I care about are going to die doing it. Who will it be this time, do you suppose Mr Byron? Tom? Will I have to tell his wife that their baby girl won't know her father? How about N'taar? Will I have to tell her brother that the only member of his family to survive the Narn/Centauri war is dead? What should I tell them when they ask why, Mr Byron? Should I say it's because some coward refused to see what he'd started through? Do you have any idea how sick I am of losing friends to other people's messes? But that doesn't mean that I'm going to go into the next battle looking for death so I won't have to face the consequences!......Do me a favor, Mr Byron. Don't make me call N'taar's brother." Turning on his heel Zack stalked from the room.  
  
  
Salmon 2002 


End file.
